Putting Max to Bed
by TheTickoftheClock
Summary: Chaos is a must in the house a few months after Jeb has disappeared, and Max is finding it hard to get the kids to do what she wants. Fang eventually comes home to put Max to bed. Oneshot. .Dez. Read and Review! FAX!
1. Chapter 1

**PUTTING MAX TO BED**

"Iggy! Get your butt in here!" Max yelled out into the pouring rain. He turned towards her and scowled.

"I'm trying to find my inspiration!" Iggy yelled.

"NOW!" Max shrieked. Iggy pouted and stalked inside, dripping wet. "Get in the bathroom and shut the door," she said, running a frustrated hand through her hair.

"But-"

"No buts, get in that bathroom," she ordered, heading the opposite way to get to the living room. Gazzy and Angel sat on the couch bickering about what show to watch. A pile of clean laundry sat in the chair that Nudge was supposed to have folded.

"Nudge!" Max yelled. "Get out here and fold this laundry!"

Nudge came barreling out of her room and pounced on Gazzy.

"Where is it, ya little twirp?!" She yelled furiously.

"Gazzy, give me the remote!" Max heard from Angel as she riddled through the laundry for some dry clothes for Iggy. _Fang's boxers, Gazzy's pants, my shirt, Angel's dress, Iggy, here we go._ Max turned around and saw Gasman and Nudge wrestling on the floor and Angel egging them on, TV forgotten.

"Nudge, get off Gazzy, Angel, stop encouraging them. And Nudge, fold that laundry!" Max yelled as she ran to the bathroom and knocked on the door. Iggy's hand peeped through and Max passed him the clothes.

"Aww, could you get me some sweatpants instead?"

"No! You'll take what you get and you'll like it."

"Geez," the door slammed. Max walked back into the living room to found that not only had the three other kids disobeyed the orders given, Angel was now fighting with them.

_Oh, Fang, get back soon. These kids are uncontrollable,_ Max thought.

Fang had gone out to get groceries, and she suspected he would try to wait the rain out as long as he could. It was already 9:30.

"Nudge! GET OVER HERE, NOW!" Max yelled as fiercely as possible. Nudge jumped up with frizzled hair and stared at Max. "If you don't get that laundry folded RIGHT NOW there will be serious consequences!"

Nudge scurried over to the chair and began folding, a light blush creeping across her cheeks. Max turned to Gazzy and Angel as they stared up at her with huge, non-innocent eyes.

"Turn that stinking TV off and go to your rooms!" They hurried to turn it off and ran into their rooms.

"Nudge, what was that all about?"

She wasted no time. "Gazzy hid my bracelet somewhere and he won't tell me where he hid it! You know, the one with the blue gems, and the turquoise-" Max stopped her and put a hand up.

"How do you know he did this?" She asked. Nudge looked puzzled. "Right. So maybe you just misplaced it. I don't want to hear anymore of it, alright? If it doesn't show up within a week, we will kindly ASK, alright?" Nudge nodded with a pout.

Max turned with a sigh and rubbed her tired eyes like a child. She just wanted to flop down on the couch and fall asleep. She wanted Jeb to rub her back and tell her that leadership wasn't always going to be this hard.

But Jeb was never coming back.

"Maax! Iggy won't stop - ow! - punching me!"

"What?! Max, I swear, I'm not even touching him."

Max growled loudly as she walked hard down the hall. Every noise in the house stilled its interruption of the air and she pushed the boys' bedroom door open and looked as Gazzy and Iggy sat on their respective beds, not touching each other at all.

Max looked like death - in two ways. 1) She was tired, her hair disheveled and dark circles rested knowingly under her eyes. 2) She looked absolutely ready to kill someone.

"One more word out of EITHER of you, and two weeks grounding. NO wings! And you will be locked in your rooms with nothing but your beds and bedding to occupy you. I will cook for you and give you the food my self. Am I understood?!" The boys said nothing at her ferocity. "Good."

She went further into their room and softened her face, motioning for Gazzy to get under the covers. He did so and she managed a smile and kissed him on the forehead.

"Good night, little man," she said affectionately.

He managed a tentative smile. She skipped the black bed in the corner of the room, adjacent to the Gasman's, and went across the room to Iggy's bed. He was already under the covers so she just kissed his forehead as he rolled his eyes.

"Night boys," she said shutting out the light. She went to the room she once shared with Nudge and Angel.

Nudge pressed folded clothing into the drawer and turned quickly out of the room to drop the boys clothes off by their door.

Angel had already fallen asleep in her pink bedding, her soft face peacefully dreaming golden curls shifting slightly with each breath. She smiled and kissed her baby's forehead, just barely 4. She tightened her covers and watched as Nudge got under her covers expectantly.

Max smiled tiredly. "Good night, sweetie." Max kissed her forehead too and turned the fairy lamp on the bedside table between the girls' beds on. She walked out, switching the overhead light off.

Max sighed, realizing that Fang wasn't home yet. She walked into Jeb's old room and got undressed, grabbing one of Jeb's old dress shirts, sniffing the smell of campfire. Max let a couple tears fall, leaning her head in the corner that the bureau and the wall made. She was just so tired: being the leader wasn't supposed to be this hard. She wasn't supposed to yell at everyone to get them to behave and do their chores, she wasn't supposed to lose sleep on the thought of what might happen tomorrow, or what could happen if she slept for more than a few hours; if she didn't keep watch.

Max was soon asleep, standing up, lightly sniffling with each breath.

* * *

Fang landed with the duffel bag full of food and trudged inside the kitchen, leftover change jangling in his pocket.

Max made it a rule to put all money in the piggy bank in her room, and write down the new balance on the paper resting beside it.

He was soaked to the bone so he put away the groceries quickly and ran to his room to change into something warmer. He ran to the bathroom to wipe his hair down with a clean towel and then made his way to Max's room to relay the balance. Fang walked in to see the light already on, and the big bed still made. He looked around the room for Max but didn't see her.

Wait... Was that her hair? Peeking out behind the dresser? He walked around the bed and saw Max, in a corner with only a long shirt of Jeb's to cover her torso. Fang visibly blushed, but Max didn't move.

"Max?" Fang asked, turning her around, and catching her shoulders when her knees gave. Max's eyes were red and puffy, and purple underneath: she'd been crying. But she was asleep now, so he might as well put her into bed.

Fang shifted her weight to his other side and pulled back the covers with his free hand. He laid her limp body on the bed, pulling her shirt down when it rode up, not peeking. Fang pulled the covers over her and without thinking about it, climbed in on the other side after switching the light off. He leaned over her and Kissed her forehead, saying, "Good night, Max."

He nuzzled his chin to her neck, trying to get warm, still chilled from the flight in the cold night rain. Max shifted closer.

"Night."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello readers! **

**So, this is a notice if you would like to still read my stuff. Due to some identity issues with my account lately, and wanting to start over, I have created a new account, I will not delete this one, and I will still read any reviews I get, I will check whenever I get on to my other account, and there has been a bunch of other stuff that has caused me to do this as well. **

**So, as I'm starting over, I thought you might want to follow me. If you do, you can find me at ChemicallyBurned. I have a blog to go along with my new account, where you see previews and news updates for new stories and new chapters. I may move two of my stories that I've loved, and I have one story already started, though it hasn't been uploaded to ****fan fiction yet. I will be releasing a release date and a small preview on my blog, as well as pictures or anything I do for my stories. You will be up to date on any of my stories if you follow my blog, and you can get exclusive information. The summary for my upcoming story has already been released on my blog, and more is coming soon.**

**chemiburned dot blogspot dot com**

**I hope you at least check it out, and maybe try to see when my new story will come out, and which two I will be carrying over onto my new account. Thanks for taking the time to read this. ;)**

**~Dez (Chemi)**


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